Just One Last Time
by RiRi17
Summary: Eight years ago, Edward almost hit me with his car. We became friends, then lovers. We were happy for 5 years. When Tanya returned, she brought with her a storm none of us were prepared for. For 3 years, Edward was an addict, me his victim. He's in jail now, awaiting his release. I just don't know if either of us will survive it again. Rated for mature content, Lan. Lem.
1. Prologue

_I first met Edward when I was twenty years old and in college. I was running across the road to make it to a class on time and he nearly hit me with his car. He'd jumped out to apologise to me and offer to take me to coffee to make up for it. His girlfriend sitting in the passenger seat wasn't too happy, so I declined. He did, however, ask for my name and when I got home that night found a friend request on Facebook from none other than Edward Cullen._

_Occasional messages soon turned into long conversations about our lives. I learned that he had two siblings, his older brother and sister, Emmett and Alice. He was the baby of the family and treated as such. They were all extremely protective of him and all disliked the girlfriend immensely. _

_Since we became so close, I was the one he came to when shit got hard, especially when he told me he was breaking up with his girlfriend. I was the one who comforted him and it was my shoulder he cried on. The one that was adamant he not get me a coffee to make up for almost running me over. Apparently, she'd started getting into drugs and had tried to force him to take some. Sometime later, he took me to meet his family. His mother and father were ecstatic to finally meet me, after hearing so much about me from Edward. Alice and Emmett treated me with kindness and respect, but didn't warm up to me until much later._

_About six months after Edward and his ex-girlfriend broke up, he asked me on a date. Esme, with tears in her eyes, told us it had taken long enough._

_Edward's mother, Esme, and I became close. Where my own left me and my dad, Charlie, when I was little, Esme filled the space for me. When Edward was travelling with the armed forces, I would have dinner with her and Carlisle some nights and we would all get to know each other. Sometimes, Emmett and Alice would make an appearance and slowly, we became close friends as well._

_He proposed to me on one of his leaves in the most beautiful way, I still get tears in my eyes. The ring he gave me was perfect; silver with one diamond on it. I wear it on a short chain now._

_But of course, that wonderful period of our lives didn't last as long as I would have hoped._

_His ex-girlfriend, Tanya, came back into the picture after Edward was honourably discharged from the army with an injury in his leg that required some pretty hard core surgery. To pass his time and regain his strength, Edward started kickboxing. It then progressed to underground boxing, paying him well. At this point, Edward and I had been together for over four years. I was a high school teacher, in one of the poorer parts of Chicago, while he was boxing. This was also the point in time Tanya came back into the picture. She'd heard he was into underground boxing and gave him cocaine after a particularly difficult fight. He was half conscious and didn't even know who she was, suffering from a concussion and heavy bleeding._

_One hit._

_That was all it took for him to become addicted. When he told me, I was furious. I immediately called my father, Chief of Police in Forks, Washington, to tell him what she'd done. He advised me to tell the Chicago PD that she was dealing and taking, and that she'd practically forced it up Edward's nose, knowing he wouldn't have a clue what was actually going on. His trainer, Jacob (who I knew from high school) caught her in time to stop her from taking him home, but he was too late to stop the real damage. He was in the back room, looking for a first aid kit to stop the bleeding. Poor Jacob still blames himself._

_While the police picked her up from a street corner, arresting her with numerous charges, I was holding my fiancé down to the bed, tears running down my face, as he fought the cocaine in his system. Going through withdrawal was the hardest part. Edward would forget who I was and lash out. It's the reason I don't wear my ring on my finger anymore. The diamond on it cut him too many times when I had to defend myself. He has one or two scars on his jaw from my right hook._

_After a particularly bad episode, I was sitting in the hallway of our apartment building, my head in my hands, when James and Victoria, our neighbours, approached me. They'd heard the whole thing and convinced me to tell them what was going on. They were the ones who helped me to get him into rehab the first time._

_A lot happened in the three year period of his using. Our wedding kept getting put off. His family never knew why, and I swore my father to secrecy. I couldn't bring myself to tell the Cullens what Tanya had done. They were all so proud of not only of his service, but the way he handled himself after the injury._

_It was Carlisle who James had to call the day after my 27__th__ birthday and tell him Edward had overdosed and that he and I were in different ambulances on the way to the hospital. It was Carlisle who I woke up to five days later, Esme sitting next to him. Emmett and Alice stood near the door, looking at me with pity._

_The patriarch of the Cullen family had seen the bruises, broken bones and lacerations his youngest son had left all over me. I don't think I've ever seen the Cullen men so broken as that day. Edward was still in ICU and would remain so until he woke from the coma he was in._

_I'm positive I heard Esme's heart break when I told her what Tanya had caused. Alice came forward and threw herself on the bed, hugging me tightly and thanking me for not abandoning Edward, like others would have. Emmett told me he wouldn't ever let this happen again._

_When Edward woke from the hospital a week later, he went on a rampage to find me, tearing out all the tubes and needles he was connected to. Whilst he wasn't experiencing literal withdrawal, the effect the drugs had on him still messed with his head. It was Emmett who had to pull Edward off me._

_The part that continues to break my heart is that Edward didn't even know he was hurting me. He never realised his strength. He never thought it was him that put me in the hospital in the first place. _

_He was protecting me all along, I found out a year later. When he saw the bruises and the x-rays and pictures of everything in between, he never realised it was him that caused the damage._

"Bella, what are you thinking about?"

I jump and force myself back into the present, meeting Edward's wonderfully clear eyes through the thick glass. I smile and tighten my grip on the phone. "Nothing. How are you feeling today?"

_Edward fell off the wagon seven months after the hospital stint. He's been in jail for two years now. He'll be released in 42 days._

_This is the full story of the eight years I've been with and in love with Edward Cullen._

* * *

This has been rattling around in my head for years now. I've written, re-written, forgotten about it and now picked it up again. This little ditty literally came pouring out from my brain.

If you happen to have a look on my profile, I've sadly deleted most of my stories. This is because almost all over those were started over three years ago, when I was in an extremely bad place. For me to pick those up again would force me to put myself back in that mindset, which is something I'm not sure I'd survive again. If I'm ever able to continue them without falling back into the depression, I will strive to do so. But if you feel you can't wait that long, feel free to PM me and I can give you the outline of them and where I wanted them to go.

To the people who have stuck with me since 2008, with my first fic being _Monsters_ (I was a little baby back then! I'm now 18!) And now to this one, I thank you so, so much. To the new readers, I want to thank you as well. Writing has always been my escape, and reading all of the wonderful stories all of you come up with has helped me through the roughest of times.

This fic will be violent, and at times, very difficult to read. Edward won't always be the nicest guy in the world. The journey through this will be tough. I see this as similar to what I've experience in my life, and just as I've had dark times, so will Bella and Edward. If you stick with me, this will be a ride that I hope you'll 'enjoy' as much as I have.

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing.

RiRi17


	2. Chapter 1

The response I got for this has been so much more than I expected! Thank you all for your kind words

Now, I'm from Australia, and a few months back, a rogue from the National Afghan Army pulled his weapon, shooting and killing a few of our soldiers. There was a huge outrage about this and our troops are currently being pulled out. I'm not sure if this is the case in America or any other country that has forces in the Middle East, so forgive me if there are inconsistencies.

I'm using this as an example, with no offence intended. While I was angry (I have ties to the Australian Defence Force and almost joined myself), I was only angry with the individual, not every single person from Afghanistan. Bella's opinions are coming from a woman whose partner was almost killed by another human being – her thoughts are entirely justified in my opinion. I would be furious too. It's only briefly mentioned though, so it won't be brought up repeatedly.

With that out of the way, here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy.

**My thoughts and prayers go to all the victims of the huge twister in Oklahoma. While I can't give you physical comfort, I'm praying that there is someone who can in my place. News stations all over Queensland have been reporting the tragedy, and I can't even begin to imagine how you are all feeling. If there's any way I can help you, I hope you feel you can PM me and we can talk about it. The city of Moore is in my prayers.**

RiRi17

* * *

I step into the warehouse after greeting the bouncer, Sam, as usual. Most of the time, I don't make an appearance here, unless it's a big fight or if I'm dropping Edward off. While I'm not sure I'm completely okay with his profession, it makes him happy and it pays the bills. And making him happy has been my priority since he was discharged from the Forces a year ago.

He was in the Rangers and from what I was told when they came to my door to tell me he was coming home early, something went horribly wrong on his last mission. I was one of the lucky ones. They said that most of their visits for the guys in Edward's unit ended in broken hearts and tears. I'll admit, I got teary when they told me only three men survived. But I digress. Their transport back to base was compromised, apparently, by someone in the Afghan National Army. The chopper went down in a huge explosion, sending people flying everywhere. Edward was trapped under debris and it took four men, two of which were a part of his unit and also made it back, to lift the beam off him. His leg was practically shattered. He was lucky to make it out alive and the first thing I did when he got home was to call his men and thank them personally for what they did.

They told they just did what they thought was right.

I wasn't told anything more, which I understood, but the rational part of my brain was gone. I was being ruled entirely by my emotions, and I'm ashamed to admit I acted dreadfully to the men whose job it is to tell wives their husband wasn't coming home.

"Bella, what are you doing here?"

I jump and let out a squeak of surprise. Jacob is standing before me, arms crossed over his massive chest with a pissed off look on his face. "I came to see Edward."

He scowls. "I'm pretty sure he's asked you not to come if you can help it. And if you have to, not to come inside alone." He raises an eyebrow at me, daring me to contradict him.

"You're here now, what's the problem?" I know full well why he asked me not to be here alone. Some of the fighters take drugs and can act completely unreasonable. I've seen them throw a punch for absolutely no reason. Chaos always follows, which is why I usually wait with Sam outside.

Jake's nostrils flare and his face turns red. I inwardly smirk at making him lose his cool. "It took me five minutes to get to you from across the room, Bella!" he explodes. A few of the guys around him look at him warily. "You weren't even watching what was happening! You were off on your own planet, which is what could get you killed!"

"Jacob, calm down. Nothing happened." I roll my eyes and wait for him to take a deep breath. "Can you please take me to find Edward? Esme called and she wants to have dinner with us tonight." Jake gulps. "Yeah, I know. He either needs to fight and not let them land any hits, or not fight at all." I cross my arms over my chest and look over his shoulder, trying to find my fiancé.

Jake steps into my line of vision, effectively stopping me from walking away to find Edward. "You and I both know there's no way he'll forfeit this fight. He's been waiting to pound this guy since the asshole said that shit to you months ago."

I sigh. I do know this. Said asshole's name is Tyler Crowley, and my first encounter with him was about four months ago. Luckily for him, Edward was in the middle of a fight when he said that he wouldn't mind taking me back to his place to show him what he could do to 'a girl like me'. Unluckily for him, Edward taught me to defend myself and Tyler found himself at the wrong end of my boot. It landed in between his legs, sending him straight to the ground. The fight was stopped once Edward realised what was happening and jumped over the ropes to protect me. "You'd think they'd learn, wouldn't you," I muse, stepping around Jake quickly and darting into the crowd, squeezing between large bodies.

"Bella!" he shouts, trying to force his way after me. He's stopped by the large wall of muscle that is surrounding the ring, waiting for their turn. I'll admit, it's a little daunting to try and find Edward in the midst of all these people, but most of the guys here know me as 'Cullen's woman' and I'm left alone because of it.

A tingle runs down the back of my neck and a smile forms on my face without my consent. A hot arm snakes around my waist, pulling me flush to an even hotter body. My softness melts into his hardness. I sigh in contentment. "Bella," he growls into my ear, making me shiver. "Imagine my panic when I hear my trainer yelling your name and I can't find you. And then I see your tiny self in the middle of all this shit." He presses his lips to the hollow behind my ear, his hand curling over my hip.

"Hi, baby," I breathe, turning to jelly.

Edward hums into hair before turning me around, wrapping his arms around my waist. He looks pissed. "Not that I don't appreciate the little drop in, but what are you doing here? I thought I asked you to stay away or wait with Sam or Jake."

I pout and twist my fingers into the little curls of hair at the nape of his neck. The firm look on his face softens. "Your mom called." He rolls his eyes. "She wants us to have dinner at theirs tonight."

"Jesus," he mutters under his breath. "Probably more wedding plans she wants to go over." Then realisation dawns on his beautiful face, his forest green eyes widening in horror. "Bella," he whines, drawing out my name. "I don't want to sit through that shit again." I quirk an eyebrow at him. "You know what I mean! You know what you want but my mother and sister want to do it their way! I want it to be your special day," he says, lowering his face to mine, pressing his soft lips to my chapped ones.

His tongue parts my lips softly and the rest of the world ceases to exist. Whenever I'm wrapped up in him, he becomes my whole world. I grip the back of his neck, pulling him closer as his hands drop down to my ass, gripping and pressing me against his growing erection. We're forced back into reality by someone bumping into us roughly. Edward immediately tenses and steps in front of me defensively. "Watch it," he snarls.

I can see his face, but I can almost hear his teeth grinding. I grip the back of his singlet, hoping like hell he doesn't actually throw a punch, because I would go with it. "Edward," I say softly, trying to get up on my toes to reach his ear. He doesn't answer me.

The guy that pushed us juts his chin out defiantly, glaring right back at Edward. "C'mon Cullen. You ain't the boss 'round here. You shouldn't be able to push us around like ya do, dickwad."

A low rumbling starts in my fiancé's chest. I squeeze my eyes closed for a second before stepping back. He looks of his shoulder quickly to make sure I'm as safe as I can be before turning back and swinging his fist into the guys chin. He goes down with a squeak.

Now, while I don't approve of Edward beating people up for a living, I do approve of the impact it's had on his body. He's muscular, hard and ripped. He looks even better than when he was in the Rangers, and that was pretty damn good. But now he's eating properly every day and where he was lean before, he's now just…big and muscly and I love it when he tenses when I run my fingers down his abs to –

"Bella?" The son of a bitch is smirking. He knows exactly what I'm thinking; he always does. I blush, looking down at my feet. "Come here, baby." I smile and basically launch myself at him, making him laugh as he takes a step back to bear my weight. "I don't mind that you think like that," he murmurs into my ear, running his nose over the shell of it.

I shiver. "I know," I reply, stroking the back of his neck. "We're in public though. People can read my face like a book and it's embarrassing."

He kisses my forehead, setting me down and grabbing my hand before leading me through the crowd. "I guess I'd better rearrange the fight then." After his KO, no one is interested in looking him in the eye anymore. There's always the one prick that tries to challenge him to giving up his reign of power. But Edward is respected by a lot of the guys here. He makes sure the fights are fair. No weapons in the ring, no tag teaming unless it's two against two originally, and definitely no fighting outside the ring. Once the fight is over, it's over. Edward refuses to allow scorned fighters to continue at it in a place like this. Especially if I'm around.

A flash of blonde catches my eye and I stumble. Edward turns to look at me quizzically. I shake my head at him, not interested in letting her get the better of me again. "We're going to be late," I remind him gently, letting him lead the way to the back rooms the fighters use to change in.

He rolls his eyes but I don't fail to notice the quickening of his pace. We both know what Esme will have to say if we're late again. The wedding plans have turned the usually cool, calm and collected matriarch of the Cullen family into a frazzled mess. Even though she's let me make most of the decisions, whenever I've dragged my feet, she's panicked. I don't like a panicked Esme. It leads to a stressed Bella.

Mike steps into our way. "Cullen, man, where ya going?" he demands with a nervous chuckle.

My fiancé tucks me into his side, wrapping his arm around my waist, his hand resting firmly on my hip. Everyone who comes here regularly knows all about Mike's numerous attempts at taking women back to his house. Any women. And we all know that he fails 95% of the time. He considers Edward his wing man, even though Edward has no interest in it. "Late for a family dinner," he says, trying to brush past Mike as politely as possible.

"Aw, man, don't tell me you're gonna cancel the fight!" he exclaims, pouting at Edward.

I raise a brow. Maybe Mike is trying to overly compensate for wanting a sexy man? When Edward cringes into me, I decide it's time for me to step in. "I'm really sorry, Mike, but it's about the wedding, y'know? Someone has had to cancel and Esme needs us there to decide what we should do."

He nods, but it's obvious he doesn't really care that much. I shrug it off – that's just Mike. "Sorry to hear that, Bella. Hope it all works out for you." He catches someone's eye over my shoulder and winks at them. I chance a quick look before smirking. The new girl, looking bewildered at her surroundings, blushes and looks down. Mike swaggers off with a cocky grin on his face.

Edward follows my gaze and snorts. "Poor girl. Hope she's not like Jess."

Jess was a girl who fell for Mike's charms, came to visit him with me and saw him 'putting the moves' on another girl. Thankfully, it was pretty early in their relationship so she wasn't too upset about it. She was more angry than teary and exacted her revenge by pouring itching powder into all of his condoms. She didn't want to put some poor girl through a pregnancy with a player and was laughing hysterically when she told me about it.

"I think Jess will be fine," I reply, squeezing his hand gently to get him moving again. A glance at the clock on the wall tells me we really don't have a lot of time to get to Esme and Carlisle's place.

He chuckles and heads into the back hallway, which is dank and poorly lit, but does the job. The tiny rooms on each side serve as a place for the fighters to wait or get patched up by their trainers. Because Edward only fights here, he has a room set aside for him with all of his stuff in it most of the time.

"Come on, babe, we've gotta get a move on." I grab his duffle and heave it onto my shoulder, looking around to see if there's anything else to grab. I left my car out the front and I know Sam will make sure it's still there, but the cops around here get bored and like to write people up for no reason. And Esme is actually frantic, because the caterer pulled out last minute due to being declared bankrupt last week. I rolled my eyes when she told me, telling her not to worry about it.

Edward grunts in acknowledgement as he pulls a hoodie over his sweatshirt, yanking the hood over his unruly hair. He shoots me a smile of thanks and lifts his bag off my shoulder and onto his own. "Let's go. I know mom will be going crazy about the caterer." He presses a kiss to my temple and leads the way out, holding the door for me.

We're almost at the door when I hear Jake calling Edward's name. I groan and grit my teeth as he stops in front of us, panting lightly. "Ed, man, where are you going? You've been waiting to smash this guy since he said that shit to Bella. This is huge. Everyone's heard about it and they want to see–"

"Wedding stuff," he says calmly, pushing past Jacob gently. I can see the eye twitch though. He doesn't like going to dinner when all we talk about is wedding stuff, mainly because he knows I'm not all that interested in such a huge wedding, but due to his family being so well known, we have to.

Jake, unlike so many others, knows as well as I do when he's pissed, so he wisely lets it go. "Aight, man. Let me know when you want to reschedule it for and I'll get it sorted."

Edward smiles gratefully. "I appreciate that, Jake. We'll probably be pretty busy for a while though. Nothing is going right at the moment."

I raise an eyebrow at him, smirking. "We could call it off," I say, smirking when Jake catches on.

Edward spins around to gape at me. "That's not what I meant! I just meant that the caterer fucked up and my mom is freaking out over everything and–" He glares at me when he sees me grinning. "Cheeky bitch," he mutters, winking at me.

Jacob laughs. "I'll see you later, Edward. I'll see you around, Bella." He waves and disappears between the massive bodies surrounding the ring.

I grab Edward's hand, all but dragging him out of the warehouse to my car, getting in and starting it before his door is even open. "Jeez, Bella, what's the rush?"

Glaring, I peel away from the curb, remembering to wave at Sam at the last minute in thanks. "Esme called me in a panic. Your dad calmed her down by shoving a glass of wine into her hand, then told me to get there _with you_ as soon as I could."

He sighs. "I wish I could give you the perfect wedding." He looks forlorn as he places his hand on my knee, squeezing gently.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. I'd have picked a smaller wedding, smaller details and smaller everything if I had the chance, but I was steamrolled by the media. Esme is a celebrated interior decorator with a heart of gold, holding charity balls and dinners whenever she can. Carlisle is an extremely well known doctor with a waiting list months long. They're in the spotlight as much as some celebrities. Usually, I don't mind because Edward and I aren't affected by it, but as soon as the public got wind of it (I still don't know how), the media was alerted and the circus began.

"Edward, I really don't mind. As long as it's you I'm walking towards, I couldn't care less." _Liar_.

He narrows his eyes at me when I glance at him, knowing full well that I do, in fact, care about my own wedding. "Promise me you'll pick the dress. Don't let Mom, Alice or Rosalie influence you, okay?" he begs, stroking my jean covered knee.

Rosalie is Emmett's girlfriend of six _long _months. He brought her to meet us all about three months in, and no one can say they really like her and be truthful about it. She's shockingly rude and bitchy to me, probably because I've known the Cullens longer. She seems like a social climber to me, but once she heard about the wedding, she's been my new best friend. "I promise. I doubt Rosalie will even be invited to come dress shopping."

He grinds his teeth at the mention of her. They don't exactly have the warmest relationship, especially when he heard the way she speaks to Alice and me when we're alone. "I don't give a shit if I have to fight with Emmett about it, if you don't want her there, she won't be. Okay?"

I smother my grin. "Okay." My phone vibrates loudly in the cup holder, making Edward jump and look at the offending object with horror as I press the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel. "Hello."

"Bella, dear, how far away are you?" Esme asks, sounding stressed. Edward groans loudly. "Is that my son? Please tell me you're on your way here. I need you to tell the caterer exactly what you want. And the plates that we'll be using. And whether or not we're suppling food for the media that will be there."

I cringe at the mention of the media at my wedding. I'm an extremely private person by nature, and I would prefer to not have them there at all, but as it turns out, there has to be at least two. Rosalie wanted more. Edward and I both put our feet down, which ended in a particularly nasty argument that left poor Esme appalled at the colourful language.

"Mother," Edward says, struggling to stay calm. "I love you, but please, let us get there before you start with the planning. Bella and I can handle anything that happens, okay?"

Esme takes a deep breath and from the sounds of it, takes a large gulp of more wine. "Of course. Bella, I am so sorry. But we're being pressured from all sides. I've had media from all different stations ringing me for days now, demanding that we allow them to be there and get the exclusive pictures. They all want the scoop. I don't even know what _the scoop_ is!" she exclaims. She sighs. "I really wanted you to both to have the wedding you wanted. It seems we're not catching a break from people within the family either," she grinds out.

My face flames. I know exactly who she's talking about, but decide to ignore the comment. "Esme, don't feel bad, please," I flick the indicator on and merge, waving my hand over my shoulder in thanks to the person behind us. "I don't care about the food or the china or anything else like that. As long as you're all there and my dad walks me down the aisle, I couldn't care less."

She sniffles into the phone. "Oh, Bella, I don't know what we'd do without you." I blush again, uncomfortable with the praise.

Edward pries one of my hands from the wheel gently, pressing a kiss to the back of it in thanks. "Mom, we're almost there, okay? Five minutes tops."

"Okay, darlings. Oh!" she drops her voice to a whisper, and I can only imagine the Jason Bourne moves she must be pulling to get away from the chatter. I smile to myself at the image of Esme running through scaffolding and buildings waving a gun around. "Emmett and Rosalie are here," she whispers, closing a door gently. "I don't know how long they'll be here, but I'm pretty sure Em won't let her get out of line."

"Again," Edward mutters angrily, too low for his mother to hear. He clears his throat and squeezes my fingers again. "I won't let it happen either. We'll see you in a few, mom."

"Bye darlings," she replies and hangs up, leaving us sitting in silence.

"Bella…" he starts, sounding upset.

I look at him in surprise when he stops. He's not happy. "Baby, what's wrong?" I turn into the driveway of the gated community the Cullens live in, fishing the little card out of my purse and handing it to the guard at the booth. He pushes a button and we go through. "Edward, what's going on?" I ask again when he doesn't answer.

He releases my hand and grips his hair, tugging. I bite my lower lip, feeling like something is about to go horribly wrong. "Do you… do you want to just cancel the wedding?" he asks finally.

I nearly crash the car into the side of someone's house. "_What_?" I almost shriek. "Edward, we've been planning this for months." And then it really hits me. My face bursts into flames as I realise what's happening. "You… you don't want to marry me anymore," I say flatly, squinting to see the street signs. I always miss the turn, even though I've been coming here for years.

"What? No!" He sits up straight and turns to look at me, horror on his face. "Bella, of course I want to marry you! I want nothing more than for you to have my last name and I've been waiting for it to happen for years…"

"But…" I prompt, finally finding Esme's street and turning, pulling into their driveway. All the Cullens are here today. I park the car behind Alice's Porsche. I'm fighting tears at the idea of him changing his mind. I knew this was too good to be true.

Edward immediately cradles my face between his hands, making sure he has my complete attention before trying to make this better. "Baby girl, you made me the happiest man on earth the second you agreed to be my girlfriend. How do you think I felt when you said you'd marry me?" He doesn't wait for me to answer. "This has put so much pressure on you," he says, maintaining eye contact. "I wanted this to be what you wanted. I want the final say to be yours, not the fucking media or Rosalie's. I was thinking… maybe we should go to Vegas. Or just go down to the courthouse."

The tears break free as I crush him to me awkwardly over the centre console. "Oh, Edward, you're so amazing," I sniffle into his neck, pressing kisses everywhere I can reach.

"Is that a yes?" Swear to god, he sounds hopeful.

I pull back and stroke his cheek lovingly, gazing into his beautiful green eyes. "I wish we could. But your mom and Alice have worked so hard to help us. And I do want the big, white wedding. I'd just never planned this big." I smile gently at him. "But that's okay. All I'm going to see is you."

He lets out a soft noise and pulls me to him, his lips joining with mine. I basically melt into him. It's sweet and he breaks away too soon. "God, I love you so much," he whispers, playing with a wisp of hair that's fallen from my pony tail.

"I love you too. Now, let's get this over with," I order, grabbing my purse and phone and climbing out of the car to meet him at the bonnet. "Just stay cool, okay?" I chide gently, taking his hand and leading him to the front door.

It's thrown open before we can knock. Alice stands there, a frustrated look on her tiny face. Her normally immaculate short black hair is standing on end as she looks at us with wide eyes. "Run."

Edward looks about ready to take his older sister's advice when Esme appears, looking just as exasperated as her daughter. She laughs nervously, looking at us as if she half expected Edward to actually grab me and run. "It's really not so bad," she says, still looking nervous.

"Mom," Edward says warningly, but pulling her and Alice into a hug all the same. Alice peeks out from under his arm, mouthing _run_ again at me with wide eyes.

Carlisle appears in the foyer of the Cullen House. I call it a mansion, but they insist that it's a just a house. That's three stories tall and could probably fit three or four of mine and Edward's place comfortably. His eyes are hard, but soften when he sees the group hug happening. "Hello, Bella," he says, coming forward to kiss my cheek and hug me. "How are you?"

"Just fine, Dr Cullen," I tease. Edward and I had come down with a pretty bad flu a few weeks ago and Carlisle had been the one to look after us. "What's wrong with Esme and Alice?"

His jaw closes with an audible snap. "Rosalie brought a friend who's an aspiring designer. She wants her to design your dress."

I feel my eye twitch as I bite my lip. "But I was going to go shopping with Esme and Alice." I feel like I'm being whiney, but honestly? I don't give a fuck. This is my wedding and I am not letting the over inflated Barbie doll run the show. I'm not even sure if she's on the official guest list.

"I know, honey. Just know that Alice is not going to let Rosalie take away her opportunity to shop for days."

I have to smile at this. My sister in law to be is a shopaholic. I go with her most of the time because she's lonely now that both Emmett and Edward have partners. They all used to play together, and when they got older, went out together. Emmett and Alice still haven't completely warmed to me, but I feel like we're slowly building a healthy relationship. "Bella," Alice calls, finally releasing herself from Edward and Esme, who continue to talk quietly by the door.

"Hi Alice," I say, smiling as I hug her tiny form. "How are you?"

She blushes, which is something that could probably knock me on my ass. Alice Cullen doesn't blush. Ever. "I met someone," she whispers happily, her eyes shining bright with excitement.

I grip her hands, happy that she's happy. From what Edward's told me, she's met some pretty shitty men. "Oh, Alice, I'm so happy for you."

"Are we going to get started or what?" a cool voice calls from the living room.

Alice rolls her eyes, squares her shoulders and marches into the room, giving Rosalie a look that silences her. Carlisle and Esme follow slowly, both looking dejected. Edward wraps an arm around my shoulder. "How are you feeling?" he asks, his eyes roving over my face to assess my emotions before I can answer.

"I feel fine. Let's get this over and done with. I'm hungry and I'm pretty sure there are some awesome leftovers from the other night." His eyes light up as he leads me into the living room before stopping so suddenly I nearly fall over.

The room is tense and silent. Emmett is sitting in the loveseat, looking down into his hands with a miserable look on his face. He looks up when we enter the room. The anger in his eyes is evident, even from across the room.

Rosalie breaks the silence. "Well, look who finally decided to grace us with their presence." Alice grinds her teeth as Rosalie looks me over with a sneer and I feel my shoulders bunch into knots under her gaze. "Okay, so I've called in a few favours so we can get you into the dress I've got in my head. This is my friend from college, Jane. She's a fashion designer."

I look at her, aghast. If she's a designer, I don't want her anywhere near my wedding dress. What she and Rosalie obviously think looks good, I think is awful. Jane's outfit is big and bright and way too attention grabbing for someone like me. It's bright yellow with a hot pink belt, hat and shoes that would kill me if I tried to walk in them. I clear my throat. "Um, Rosalie, I appreciate it, but I'm going shopping with Esme and Alice for my dress. Tomorrow." Alice throws me a grateful look. She looked horrified and Jane's choice of clothing as well.

This is evidently the wrong thing to say. Her face goes red and splotchy in anger before she opens her mouth to speak, but Jane interrupts. "Rose, darling, I don't mind. I'd rather work for people who know what fashion really is anyway." She stands up, straightens the thing she's wearing and walks towards the door, stopping in front of Edward, who's been silent but shaking in anger the whole time. "If you ever decide that you want to upgrade to a real woman instead of the high school graduate, here's my card." She slides it into the front pocket of his jeans.

Esme stands up, horrified. "Rosalie, remove her from my house now!"

Edward steps into Jane's comfort zone. She smirks at me triumphantly until she realises he's pissed. At her. He doesn't have to say anything at all. The glare he's giving her is enough to send her running out of the house and seconds later, we all hear her car racing away.

If looks could kill, Edward and I would be toast by now. Rosalie doesn't even say anything, she's that mad. She just stands there shaking, fists clenched by her side. Emmett shifts on the loveseat, drawing my attention to him. He looks so miserable I just want to hug him and tell him there are other women. _Nicer _women. "Rose…"

"No Emmett," she snaps, staring at me in hatred. I resist the urge to take a step back. "I just did you a huge favour, and you throw it back in my face? What the fuck is wrong with you? Can you not see someone who can actually do something to make you look normal for a change? This is your _wedding_, not where you work. Get some respect for yourself."

"_Enough_."

Rosalie cuts her eyes to my fiancé. He's angrier than I've ever seen him, and I've seen him pretty angry before. Whatever she sees, it makes her stop talking. Edward takes a deep breath to try and calm down before turning to his older brother. "Em, man, I'm sorry, but if you bring her to my wedding, you're not coming inside."

Rosalie's mouth drops open before she takes a step back to sit down next to Emmett, flabbergasted that things haven't gone her way for once in her life. Rosalie is a woman who's used to getting what she wants, when she wants it. And unfortunately for all of us, she wanted Emmett the minute she saw him.

"Rosalie," Carlisle rumbles. He remains seated, but with the way he's looking at her, he might as well be towering over her. She cringes into the seat. I smile in victory as Edward leads me to the couch, draping an arm over my shoulders. He's grinning too. "I've made it clear to my children that I will not dictate who they bring home to meet us. I respect their decisions about the people they date."

The phone rings somewhere in the house and Esme excuses herself to answer it.

"But," Carlisle continues, "I will not tolerate such disrespect for Bella. We've known her for a long time now. She's a part of this family, regardless of her last name. We are here as a part of her family, helping her where her own father can't." I look down into my lap. Charlie wasn't able to get the time off work for the planning stages, but he's made sure that he has two weeks surrounding the weddings so he can be here with me. "If you would like to be a part of this family, Rosalie, you have to treat everyone with respect. That includes Emmett."

They both look shocked at the last comment. But Rosalie doesn't say anything. She merely gets up and storms upstairs, not glancing back. Emmett looks after her, but doesn't follow.

Esme makes a sniffling noise, pulling our eyes to her. There's tears dribbling down her cheeks and she somehow still looks as refined as ever. She looks at me hopefully, clenching Carlisle's hand in her own. "Did you really mean it? About the dress shopping?" she whispers.

I look at Edward, confused. He looks just as bewildered. "Mean what?"

"That Alice and I could come with you," she whispers, wiping her eyes.

"Oh, Esme, of course I did. I want you both there." They both jump up and fly at me, pulling me up to join the group hug. They're both babbling things about hems and lace that I don't understand as I look over Edward's shoulder with wide eyes.

He just smiles.

* * *

Well! I'm pretty sure that's the longest chapter I've written ever! Over 5000 words! So proud I thought I would start off slow, which is exactly what this chapter is. The Cullens and relationships have all been established now. At this point in time, I'm not sure how long Jane or Rosalie will be sticking around for. I hope you all enjoyed it.

RiRi17

**Again, if anyone affected by the tragedy in Oklahoma would like to talk, feel free to PM me and we can chat to our hearts' content. Much love from Australia.**


	3. Chapter 2

As I've seen other authors say, I would like to reiterate it. This is something that all of spend our free time (as little as it is) doing. We're not paid and the only rewards we ever get are the reviews you guys give us. Without that, there isn't much to show for our work. Obviously, some of you are enjoying this, because I get loads of emails for follows and favourites, but very little reviews. It's a little bit discouraging.

With that off my chest, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

I don't currently have a beta for this, so any and all mistakes are all mine . Also, I'm not making any money and Stephanie Meyer owns all the original Twilight characters.

**Again, Australian here, so if some things don't add up, let's just assume it's because I'm across the pond, so to speak. If anyone has seen **Rise of the Guardians **and know Hugh Jackman's in it; yes, I talk like that – sometimes my writing reflects it. My old stuff certainly did.**

* * *

I finish the group hug and sit back down next to Edward, letting him wrap his arm around me again. "I'm sorry, Esme. I really didn't want it to come to that."

She sighs as she sits down next to Carlisle, taking his hand. "Don't worry about, Bella. What Carlisle said was true; Rosalie just didn't want to hear it. I want all my children to be happy, and if she makes Emmett happy, I'm willing to let her work through whatever problems she has."

Emmett groans and lifts his ass to get his phone from his back pocket. His face closes off when he sees who it is. "Sorry, I have to take this." He gets up and heads into the kitchen, shutting the door behind him.

Esme still looks upset. I guess this isn't how she planned her dinner to go. "Esme, do you want me to go and get takeout and some wine instead of you having to spend the afternoon cooking? And then we can talk about the catering or whatever else there is."

Carlisle smiles at me. "We've got enough wine here, believe me." He turns to her, stroking a finger down her still youthful face. I can only hope to age as gracefully as her. "Let us treat you, darling. We can sit in here and eat and talk about the wedding and relax."

Edward stretches and stands, holding out his hand to help me up. "Alright, Mom. How does pizza sound?"

Emmett sticks his head in through the kitchen door, a huge grin on his face. "Can you get–"

"One all for yourself, Em, I know." Edward plays with my fingers while we wait for everyone else's orders. They all speak over each other. "Ugh, you know what? Just text me the orders. I'll forget something if you don't." We both wave as we leave the house.

I open the passenger door, sliding in and tossing the keys to him. "You drive."

The grin he rewards me with is blinding in its beauty. Edward's true smiles are a rarity, usually reserved for me and his family. His scowl when he's fighting never fails to get me hot, but it's the smile that makes me weak at the knees. I laugh as he revs the engine playfully, buckling myself to the seat. Our car isn't as fancy as the other Cullen children's', mainly because I was raised by Charlie on a conservative budget and I hate relying on other people for money. Carlisle and Esme have offered to loan us the money to buy a second car, but I refused every time. Besides, Edward doesn't mind the short jog back to our apartment if I'm still at work when he's training.

My phone vibrates as a text comes through. I open it and laugh. It's a text from Emmett explaining in great detail the pizza he wants. Another one from Esme comes through explaining the rest of the family's order. "Jeez, Emmett's order alone will cost what could feed me for a week."

Edward shakes his head. "I'm actually glad he chose a woman as terrible as Rosalie to live with. He would be a nightmare if his teenage years are anything to go by."

I laugh. "Do you think we'll ever get along?" And I want to. I don't want every family gathering to end in tears and arguing. Edward is extremely close with his family and I don't want our differences to come between that. I feel awful for Emmett too. He's the poor bastard that has to put up with her.

"I'm so glad I don't like blondes anymore," Edward says, pulling out of the gated community the Cullens live in. "Christ, Rosalie could put me off _women_ for the rest of my life if I was still single." I freeze, remembering the flash of blonde hair I saw at the warehouse when I was picking him up earlier. He notices. "Bella, what's wrong?"

Swallowing hard, I turn to face him. "You won't get mad?" He's always careful to avoid any and all mention of his ex, Tanya Denali. Not only was she an absolute nightmare to deal with, she was heavily involved in drugs and tried to get Edward hooked too. I know this because I'm the one he vented to almost nightly. He's just lucky he didn't get an STD from her, because we both know she wasn't as faithful as he was.

He looks at me, concerned. "Baby, no. Why are you upset?" He reaches over, squeezing my hand gently.

I hesitate. It probably wasn't even her. There are tonnes of blondes that show up to the warehouse to scope out the guys. But there was something about the particular bleachiness that struck me as odd. And most of the girls that show up always look impeccable, what with their tiny shorts and midriff tops, belly piercings showing. This blonde was wearing jeans and a scruffy jacket, hair in a messy bun. "Has… has Tanya been showing up lately?" I shut my eyes tightly as I blurt it out.

Tanya has always been a touchy subject with Edward. They met in high school, started dating and when Edward joined the army, she stuck by him, until she met some guy who offered her cocaine for free. While Edward was away, it wasn't so bad. I met him on one of his leaves, when they were at their lowest. He was heartbroken after he found out what she'd been doing while he was away. Luckily, he had an amazing friend he met in the Rangers, Eric Yorkie, who helped him through the breakup when they were on their deployment. And even though they ended badly, he refuses to allow someone to talk negatively about her. They loved each other at some point.

Edward goes rigid as he pulls up in front of the pizza place. "Why?" he asks, sounding defensive.

"Because I think I saw her when I came to get you."

He gets out of the car without a word, shutting the door forcefully behind him, saying, "Don't try to talk about things you don't understand, Bella."

I scramble out, ungracefully I may add, behind him. He doesn't look back as he locks the car and strides into the pizza place. I stare after him, completely dumbfounded before I get angry. I storm after him. "You promised you wouldn't get mad. There is absolutely no reason to treat me like shit."

He turns to look at me, his face softening. "I'm sorry." His voice is still hard.

I raise my eyebrows at his lacklustre apology and turn to face the menu when he doesn't continue. "Hi," I greet the teenager behind the counter. "This will be a large order, so I'm sorry in advance." I smile kindly at him.

He blushes, but grins back. "It's okay. We've been slow all day. This will probably be the highlight of my day."

Well, he evidently leads an exceptionally interesting life. "Okay, I'll take the deep pan crust with everything on top." When he looks like he's going to interrupt to tell me about the price, I hold my hand up to stop him. "I don't care what it costs. I need to feed my brother in law."

He glances at Edward, appraising him slowly with wide eyes. "Wow, I can see why."

"I'm her fiancé," Edward snarls, wrapping his arm around to pull me tight against him. "Watch yourself."

I roll my eyes as I smoothly remove his arm from my waist. I'm not interested in him staking his claim if he can't tell me that his drug abusing, almost psychotic ex-girlfriend happens to be hanging around him like a vulture again. This isn't the first time she's caused trouble for us. "So the deep pan with everything, a thin vegetarian, classic Hawaiian, deep pan pepperoni."

"Emmett will go through at least three of those," Edward warns me in a soft voice, obviously trying to get back into my good books.

I pause. This could be a really long night. Longer still if Rosalie decides to grace us with her charming presence once again. And then we'll probably be talking about wedding plans till early tomorrow morning, knowing my luck. "Better double all that," I sigh as I reach for my purse. "How much?" I ask the kid behind the counter.

He's touching the screen in front of him, frowning slightly. He glances up at me, looking nervous, before his eyes slide to Edward. He goes pale. "I'm sorry, but the system is frozen," he whispers, his voice cracking. He's obviously terrified of my fiancé, but at the moment, Edward's just being a dick because he can. It's not something I find attractive at all, so I elbow him in the ribs.

He inhales sharply, turning to glare at me briefly. "Jesus," he mutters, rubbing his side.

"It's no trouble," I tell the poor boy. "Just write the order down and we'll come back in twenty minutes or something to pay. Sound good?"

"Y-yeah," he stutters, still watching Edward carefully. "I'll get it sorted."

I grab Edward's hand tightly, squeezing it to get his attention. "Thanks, hon. We'll be back soon." I drag Edward from the pizza shop. "What the hell was that?" I hissed at him, still pulling him along behind me. "You didn't have to act like that to him. He was just doing his job."

"His job isn't staring at your tits, Bella."

I roll my eyes. "You promised you wouldn't get mad about my question."

He stops, tugging his hand from mine gently. I turn to face him. He's rubbing his temples tiredly. I've been noticing recently that he's been looking more exhausted than usual, but I've always put it down to him training harder for the more challenging fights coming up. "I never thought it would be about Tanya, for Chrissake. Jesus, Bella, I was with her for years. How do you expect me to react?"

I dig around in his hoodie pocket for the keys. When I find them, I unlock the car and get in. Chicago is nice during the summer, more so in the evenings than during the day, but autumn is always unpredictable. Most of the time, the heat from summer remains but this year winter was on its way early. It wasn't even October yet and the weather guys were saying the first freeze was going to happen soon. I plan on staying inside as much as possible. "Calmer than that," I tell him bluntly, turning the heat on high.

"When do you think you saw her?" he asks, pulling the lever to recline his seat all the way back.

Mimicking his movement, I turn to face him, pulling my jacket closer to my body. "When I came to get you today. I'd know her face anywhere after all the times I've met her." I use the term _met _loosely. She didn't stalk us or anything, but she went out of her way to make sure Edward and I knew she knew about us and wasn't happy.

He groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's been around a couple times now. I haven't spoken to her because Jake's seen her first every time and gotten her to leave. But she wants to speak to me."

I felt my heart clench. They had a history. They'd known each other since they were kids and playing in the mud together. How could I compete with that? Sure, we've been together for almost three years, but he's still two years older than me. He was graduating and partying hard in college while I was still in high school. I wasn't sure how I felt about them catching up again, but I was damn sure I wasn't going to be one of _those _girlfriends. He can see whoever he damn well wanted.

He sees the look on my face. "Bella, I'm not going to see her." He reaches out to take my hand in his, rubbing soft circles on my palm. "She can come to the warehouse as much as she wants, but I'm still not going to give her the time of day."

Knowing full well I'm about to start a huge argument, I open my mouth anyway. "I'm going to start coming with you."

His mouth snaps shut as his eyes go hard. He grinds his teeth together. He's not happy at all. He doesn't say anything for a few moments and I know it's his way of trying to control his temper. It' something he had to work hard to control when he was a Ranger, but there were times when he was able to use it to his advantage. I obviously don't know everything that he did, but I knew about his fights. Not the fire fights, just the hand to hand combat situations, and even then, he could never tell me all the details.

I cross my arms over my chest while I wait. The calmer he is, the more likely I'll be able to get my way. There is no way he's going alone if Tanya is sniffing around again.

"Bella," he says slowly, a barely contained rage in his voice. "If you think for one second I'm going to let you into that warehouse when I can't be with you, you've got another thing coming. You're lucky Jake saw you when he did today." He lets out a breath and pinches the bridge of his nose. "The guys that are there every day know you're my woman. The others are just assholes. They don't know who I am till I break a few ribs and even then they think they have a shot at you."

"Edward, you don't _own_ me. I'm not some possession. I'm your fiancée, not your dog." I glare at him. "And intimidating a teenager into almost wetting himself is disgusting behaviour," I growl. "You don't need to assert your dominance by terrifying him. What would your mother think?"

He at least has the decency to look ashamed. "I'm sorry for that, but I can't promise that I won't let every man who looks at you like you're something to eat."

I scoff. "Like you do?"

It's the wrong thing to say. I know I shouldn't have said it the moment I opened my mouth, because he explodes. "I'm your fiancé!" he roars. I jump back towards the door in fright. "You're the woman I'm marrying and I'm not allowed to look at you with desire?" he demands, tensing and releasing his fists to try and control himself. He breathes heavily, glaring at me from beneath hooded lids. "Look at your hand, Bella. I put that ring on your finger. That's _my _grandmother's ring!" He grabs my left hand, pulling it toward him and staring down at the ring. His thumb rubs the tops of my fingers gently in complete contradiction to the anger on his face. "You're not my dog or my possession," he whispers. "But you are my woman. It's my job to protect you."

He needs a physical release. He's been pumping himself up for weeks for the fight he had to cancel today. The testosterone has been high for two days now. He's been itching for a good fight since he popped his bad knee out a month or two ago. Coincidentally, it was the same night Tyler made the decision to proposition me. It seems his knee will constantly be a reminder of what he used to be. And what he lost. "We're getting off topic here," I remind him, trying to maintain my cool. "If Laurent started hanging around me again, you'd want me to tell you."

Edward shuts his eyes tightly at the mention of my ex-boyfriend. Laurent and I had dated through high school and my first year of college and ended because he wanted to go back to France to look after his ill mother. It wasn't a bad break up at all, and we still talk sometimes. "It's different," he mutters, squeezing my fingers gently.

"How is it different?" I demand, yanking my hand from his to cross my arms over my chest. "Laurent and I are still friends, at least. We have a reason to speak to each other. You and Tanya broke up because she _cheated on you_, Edward. Laurent's mother had cancer and he went to take care of her."

He grimaces. "You're right," he sighs. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Bella, but I honestly thought it wasn't a big deal."

I roll my eyes at him, still furious. "Okay, next time my psychotic, drug pushing ex shows up to where we've been living for almost three years, I'll just think it's not a big deal." When he reaches for me, I shove his hand away and get out of the car, taking the keys with me. "The pizzas should be ready by now." I stalk into the shop, taking a deep breath at the door so I won't take it out on the young boy.

He looks up at me, grinning. "We restarted the system and your order is ready," he informs me, trying to glance out the window to see if Edward plans on following me into the store.

"Don't worry about him. He's harmless." I look over my shoulder too. He's still fuming in the car. "How much do I owe you?"

He shakes his head adamantly. "I spoke to my manager and because it took so long, we're not charging anything."

"Oh, no, I couldn't take it for free. I have to pay something for the trouble." I grab my purse from my bag. "Half?" I suggest, when he still looks uncertain.

He pauses, thinking hard about my offer. I want to tap my foot in impatience, but he's just a kid. I'm pretty sure I've seen him at the school I work at before. "Okay," he says brightly after a moment. "It comes to $23.75."

I hand him the cash. "Keep the change," I tell him as I pick up the first five boxes. "I'll be back for the others in just a second."

"I've got it." Edward appears out of nowhere, taking the last five boxes and opening the door for the both of us with ease.

I'm still angry with him, but it's subsiding to disappointment and fear. What if she _was_ trying to get clean? The whole reason they broke up was because of the drugs. Is there a possibility that I'll be tossed aside if he gives her a second chance? Does he still have feelings for her? My eyes widen in horror.

"Bella?"

"Hm? What?" I shake myself from my musings, glancing up at him.

He raises his eyebrows at me, looking concerned. "Are we getting in the car anytime soon?"

Oh. I place the boxes on the roof of the car so I can grab the car keys from my purse. I unlock it and wait for Edward to slide in before grabbing the pizzas and getting in too, handing them to him. "You can put them in the back if you want," I say, watching him struggle to manoeuvre the boxes around to a comfortable position.

"Will they slide around?" he asks, turning to examine the back seat. He obviously decides that they won't, because he gets back out to put them there. When he gets into the passenger seat, he's holding onto one of the cheese slices.

I raise a brow at him as I turn the car on. "Emmett will be furious you got a piece first."

Edward shrugs. "He should have come then."

Rolling my eyes, I pull out of the parking spot and into the traffic. I don't really have much to say to that. I don't really want to talk to him either, and he's not being forthcoming with conversation as we head back to his parents' house. The whole twenty minute trip is spent in complete and utter, heartbreaking silence.

When we actually arrive at the Cullen Manor, we both sit in the car, waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither one of us does. Edward gets out of the car with a sigh while I sit there, trying to collect myself before going back inside to talk about our wedding.

* * *

Yay! Finally! The second chapter is up. I have a little blue book filled with the storyline, so hopefully the next will be quicker. I'm at uni part time this semester, but I'm also working a lot, so I can't promise a regular update. I also have my puppy on my lap and lying on my left arm.

I hope you all enjoyed

RiRi17


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